The line on Milwaukee Avenue reached down the block and snaked around the corner on Thursday. One hundred fifty people stood, sat on the sidewalk, brought their own chairs, drank coffee, ate sandwiches and waited. While similar scenes unfold outside box offices when major concerts come to town, there was no headline act appearing in Avondale. Residents from all over Chicago and as far away as Indiana waited in line for a different reason: free dental care. For the third year, Big Smile Dental offered free dental services as part of their Dentists with Heart program. Regardless of socioeconomic status, everyone over the age of 12 was eligible as long as they were willing to brave the cold and spend the day waiting in line. The practice, owned by Dr. Theodore Siegel, also gives free care to children one day during the summer. "Look around," the 51-year-old dentist said. "Right here in Chicago on Milwaukee Avenue there are people who can't afford dental work." Seven providers, including an oral surgeon and a periodontist, dental hygienists and support staff worked without pay and spent the day performing extractions, doing routine cleanings and filling teeth. The first patients were admitted at 9:00 a.m. At that point, some had been waiting outside for five hours. Most were exhibiting enthusiasm not usually seen during a visit to the dentist. "I'm getting a filling, and I'm super-excited!" Janine Nock, 27, said. "Free dental care is really hard to come by. It's a really nice thing to do for the community." Many of the patients, like Logan Square resident Erwin Pacheco, 53, were there for emergency dental care. Pacheco said that he had been in pain for two weeks, just waiting for February 14. Others saw Siegel's offer as an opportunity to get a cleaning or a filling that they might not normally be able to afford. Nidhie Singh, 25, a student at Northern Illinois University in DeKalb, Ill., drove for more than an hour with a friend to arrive at 4:30 a.m. She needed a filling, and said that dental insurance was too expensive for her student budget to handle. Although free health care is available throughout Chicago, free dental care is much harder to come by. Both the Cook County Department of Public Health and the Chicago Department of Public Health Clinics offer dental services, but have income requirements. Moreover, many clinics require registration, and a call placed to the Comprehensive Clinic in Uptown revealed that registration is currently closed until April. Although she was grateful for the services rendered, Truman College student Rebecca Grace, 25, was frustrated with the health care system. "I think it's a damn shame that people have to wait in line to have free dental care," she said. "In some countries this would never happen." Dr. Siegel sees his success as an "opportunity to give back to the people who have made us so successful. It's a privilege for me to be in a position to give back." By the end of the day, the doctors at Big Smile Dental had seen more than 150 patients, adding to the 875-plus patients the practice has already provided with free dental care....